I read a bunch of IT books in 2025. Some of them were good, some were bad. How do you choose which book is worth your attention and time spent? I usually look for recommendations from fellow engineers.

So, dear readers, let me help you by sharing my recommendations for the best IT books I read in 2025. Hope it helps you find your next read.

🧪 Testing

• 📗 “Taking Testing Seriously: The Rapid Software Testing Approach” by James Bach and Michael Bolton. A lovely book about testing in general and the “Rapid Software Testing” approach in particular. Lots of wisdom, lots of experience-based advices. Highly recommend reading it for any software tester. 10 out of 10.

• 📗 “Drawn to Testing” and “Writing Test Plans Made Easy” by Wayne M. Roseberry. Both books are good. The first one is a collection of helpful thoughts and concepts from a test engineer with years of experience at Microsoft. Reminded me a bit of “Lessons Learned in Software Testing”. The second book is a short, concise guide to writing effective test plans.

• 📗 “Contract Testing in Action” by Marie Cruz and Lewis Prescott. If you need one book to get theoretical and practical ideas on how to implement contract testing for your product, this book is for you! Lots of code samples you can check and use. Diagrams are also good.

• 📗 “Software Testing with Generative AI” by Mark Winteringham. Many examples of how to use AI in testing and test automation. But more than that, here you will also find a thinking approach to using AI in testing.

💻 Programming

• 📗 “Dead Simple Python: Idiomatic Python for the Impatient Programmer” by Jason C. McDonald. A good book for those switching to Python from another programming language. Here you will find an in-depth explanation of how Python constructs work and why it works that way.

• 📗 “Learn Rust in a Month of Lunches” by David MacLeod. Nice book on the basics of Rust for an experienced engineer. The author explains the correct usage of Rust and its differences from other languages.

• 📗 “Zero To Production In Rust: An introduction to backend development” by Luca Palmieri. For those who want a more practical approach, this book offers a step-by-step guide to building a full-featured service using modern Rust libraries and frameworks.

📡 Engineering

• 📗 “Your Code as a Crime Scene, Second Edition: Use Forensic Techniques to Arrest Defects, Bottlenecks, and Bad Design in Your Programs” by Adam Tornhill. A book for engineers who are “bored” or for those who want to dig deeper. By digging … I mean digging the codebase and Git history to find potential problems and bugs. Fascinating book to read.

• 📗 “Think Distributed Systems” by Dominik Tornow. For those who want a modern book that explains the main concepts in distributed systems, this is the treasure. Clear explanations, beautiful diagrams, engaging style.

🔬 Performance

• 📗 “Performance Testing: An ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level Specialist Certification Review” by Keith Yorkston. A nice up-to-date intro to performance testing. Requires technical knowledge to grasp the concepts.

• 📗 [“Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud”]https://a.co/d/93UvbAH by Brendan Gregg. Prepare for a … huge book. But it’s worth every cent of it! It is a real reference book on how to perform performance testing properly and which tools are available for Unix/Linux systems. Must-read, but only if you are interested in this field.

🔗 Blockchain

• 📗 “Blockchain, Crypto and DeFi: Bridging Finance and Technology” by Marco Di Maggio. A single book that explains the concepts of blockchain and all the modern tech built on top of it: decentralized finances, exchanges, DEXes, etc. I really love how the author provides examples of concepts and explains how the products work. I recommend reading it if you are new to the blockchain field. But it is not a substitute for Imran Bashir’s “Mastering Blockchain” book (Imran’s book is more technical).

📎 Management

• 📗 “Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual” by Jocko Willink. A good book on leadership principles from the military and its application to real-world business scenarios.

• 📗 “The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change” by Camille Fournier and “Engineering Management for the Rest of Us” by Sarah Drasner. Both books are great if you want an overview of what leaders and managers do on a day-to-day basis.

Which books can you recommend from your 2025?